Ezra 4:4-16 So it came to be that the people of the area were holding back the hands of the people of Judah, thus deterring them from building.

CLV⁽ⁱ⁾ ⁴ So it came to be that the people of the area were holding back the hands of the people of Judah, thus deterring them from building. ⁵ They were hiring counselors against them to have their purpose quashed all the days of Cyrus king of Persia and until the reign of Darius king of Persia. ⁶ And during the reign of Xerxes, at the start of his reign, they wrote an accusation against those dwelling in Judah and Jerusalem. ⁷ Then in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the remainder of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; the writing of the dispatch was written in Aramaic and interpreted. ⁸ Aramaic text:High commissioner Rehum and scribe Shimshai, they wrote one letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king, as follows. ⁹ (Then they wrote, high commissioner Rehum and scribe Shimshai, and the rest of their colleagues, the adjudicators and the officials over the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Erechites, the Babylonians, the Susaites, that is, the Elamites, ¹⁰ and the rest of the leagues whom the great and esteemed Osnappar deported and caused them to settle in the towns of Samaria and the rest of Beyond-the-Stream. And now, ¹¹ this is a transcript of the letter that they sent to him.) To king Artaxerxes from your servants, the men Beyond-the-Stream. And now, ¹² let it become known to the king that the Judeans who came up here from you to us, have arrived at Jerusalem. They are rebuilding the revolting and stinking town. They are completing the walls and are repairing the foundations. ¹³ Now let it become known to the king that, if this town should be rebuilt and the walls be completed, they shall not pay tribute, tax or toll, and it shall cause damage to the revenue of the kings. ¹⁴ Now forasmuch as we have salted the salt of the palace, and it is not proper for us to perceive the denuding of the king, we have sent and have let the king know of this, ¹⁵ that one should make a quest in the scroll of the memoranda of your fathers. Then you shall find in the scroll of the memoranda and you shall know that this town is a revolting town, causing damage to kings and provinces. Those making insurrections were in its midst from the days of the eon. On this account this town was laid waste. ¹⁶ We are making known to the king, if this town should be rebuilt and the walls should be completed, because of this there will be no portion for you in the province Beyond-the-Stream.